Zhang Dai’s eyes widened in disbelief. Her delicate face was so close, her eyes closed, and her rosy lips pressed against his, moving clumsily yet fiercely.
Thump, thump, thump! His heart was about to leap out of his chest. She was kissing him!!!
But he remained rational. He couldn’t let Chen Shuangshuang act recklessly; he didn’t want her to regret it. He restrained his desire and pulled away from her lips.
She reluctantly tried to follow, but he firmly avoided her.
He stared intently into her drunken, hazy eyes and seriously asked, “Chen Shuangshuang, are you serious?”
“Mm~” Her soft voice completely shattered his last bit of rationality. He suddenly scooped her up and carried her to the bed.
[Omitted a thousand words of indescribable content, feel free to imagine.]
The next morning, a sharp scream broke the morning silence.
“Ah~~~ You you you! I, I, I! Ah~~~~”
Chen Shuangshuang looked at the messy clothes in the room, held her dizzy head, and recalled the absurd events of the night, feeling like she wanted to die!
Zhang Dai emerged from the other side of the blanket, lazily yawning: “Calm down! Calm down! It’s not like I’m not taking responsibility!”
“Who wants you to take responsibility! Dream on! Get out!” Chen Shuangshuang angrily threw a pillow at him.
Zhang Dai quickly caught it, reluctantly got up and picked up his clothes from the floor.
He had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a tall, slender figure. The beautiful shape of his shoulder blades and the smooth lines of his spine were clearly visible, showcasing his disciplined lifestyle.
He bent down, swiftly picking up his clothes and putting them on. When he turned around, he noticed someone staring at him intently. Feeling self-assured, he struck a bicep pose.
“How about it? Satisfied with my physique?”
“Shameless!” she retorted, annoyed, but her cheeks were already flushed with embarrassment. She quietly pulled the blanket up to cover the lower half of her face.
He approached, sat on the edge of her bed, and gently ruffled her messy hair, speaking softly: “Don’t worry, I’ll go to your parents to propose marriage.”
Hearing this, she immediately sat up, warning him fiercely: “I dare you to tell my parents, and you’ll regret it!”
“Alright, I won’t tell your parents for now!” he conceded, at least their relationship was confirmed, and they could take it slow from here.
Chen Shuangshuang’s mind was now clear; it was time to settle things!
She coldly spoke, “I don’t want you to take responsibility. Let’s pretend last night never happened! We’re still just friends!”
“You don’t want me to take responsibility, but I want you to! You started it, so you have to take responsibility for me!” He shamelessly took off his shirt, revealing the conspicuous red marks scattered across his well-defined abdomen and chest.
Beast! How could she be such a beast! Her head was splitting!
“Look at all these hickeys on me. Whose handiwork is this? Don’t even think about denying it!” He pointed to the reddest hickey on his chest, his eyes filled with grievance.
She was so ashamed she couldn’t face anyone, her head instinctively lowered even more.
He maliciously continued to gather evidence, pointing to the bite mark on his lip that had scabbed over: “Who was it last night that kept kissing and biting me, treating my lips like pig’s trotters?”
His aggressive attitude was really annoying! This was a consensual act between adults, and clearly, she was the one who suffered more. How dare he say she forced him! She was completely fed up!
Chen Shuangshuang wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, jumped up, and pointed at his face, unleashing her frustration:
“Why didn’t you stop me? You know I go crazy when I drink! When I go crazy, I do irrational things! And you still let me! Did you do it on purpose?”
Zhang Dai was exasperated by her ability to twist the situation, retorting angrily: “Did I do it on purpose? You don’t know?”
“Then you could have refused!” She suddenly lost her confidence.
“You forced yourself on me, how could I refuse? I’m a man, I also…” He didn’t finish the sentence, letting her understand the implication.
The implication being, she initiated it, so she bears the most responsibility!
She shrank into a corner like a quail, regretting her actions. How could she have been so foolish to do such a thing?
He was really afraid she might get desperate and run away, so he decided to back off and calm her down.
He sighed deeply, sat on the bed, and spoke gently: “Alright! I’m not blaming you for anything. We’re close, we can discuss this calmly!”
Chen Shuangshuang suddenly had a flash of realization and urgently asked: “Wait, did you use protection last night?”
Zhang Dai, reminded of this, blushed and scratched his head: “It was my first time, I have no experience. It happened so suddenly, I wasn’t prepared!”
“How dare you! No protection at all, you enjoyed it, but what about me! Go buy the morning-after pill!” Chen Shuangshuang was furious, kicking him in the waist.
Zhang Dai, in pain, jumped off the bed and ran out as if for his life.
This unexpected incident left Chen Shuangshuang very annoyed, making her unsure on how to face Zhang Dai! To avoid awkwardness, she cleverly chose to avoid him, blocking all his contact methods. As the saying goes, avoidance may be shameful, but it’s useful! Let time wash away all these mistakes!
While avoiding him, she also cautiously took the morning-after pill for a week, ensuring her safety!
She was laid off from her company, but luckily she had anticipated it. Her project group’s workload had decreased significantly this year, so she had been preparing for interviews in advance. She received severance pay which actually made her a bit of profit!
During the transition period, she focused on her job search, putting all her efforts into finding new work and pushing other concerns aside.
However, the job market this year was terrible, and combined with the awkwardness of her age, interviews invariably included questions about her marital and reproductive status. The blatant gender discrimination infuriated her! It took her over a month to secure a job offer, with a start date after the New Year.
On New Year’s Eve, her family gathered joyfully around the table for a hot pot, enjoying a lively reunion.
However, someone showed up at the door at a very inconvenient time, triggering Chen Shuangshuang’s alarm. She dashed upstairs to hide.
Zhang Dai, not seeing her, exchanged pleasantries with her parents and then left disappointed.
Throughout the entire Spring Festival, Chen Shuangshuang successfully avoided him, using her childhood-developed hide-and-seek skills, enjoying a peaceful holiday.
By the tenth day of the new year, Zhang Dai’s short vacation was over, and he returned to work, allowing her to enjoy the Lantern Festival peacefully.
One day, she was intensely focused on playing a video game when a sudden wave of nausea interrupted her crucial skill move, causing her game character to die and the screen to turn gray. She was furious! She could have won, but ended up getting killed! So unlucky!
Just as she was about to redeem herself, the feeling of nausea returned, even stronger than before, and she couldn’t hold back, vomiting on the floor.
Seeing this, her mother rushed over, patting her back with concern: “What’s wrong? Did you eat something bad? Is it gastroenteritis?”
Staring at the indescribable mess on the floor, her mind raced. She had been so busy with her job hunting that she seemed to have forgotten something important. She hadn’t had her period last month, and it had been over two months now. Coupled with this unusual nausea, she had a bad feeling!
She quickly got up, ignored her worried mother, and rushed out of the house to go to the pharmacy.
She sneakily bought a pregnancy test and hurried home, carefully testing in the bathroom, awaiting her fate.
Unfortunately, her mother suddenly knocked on the door: “Shuangshuang, why are you in the bathroom for so long? Is your stomach still uncomfortable? Do you need me to take you to the community hospital?”
Startled, her hand shook, and the pregnancy test fell to the floor. She scrambled to pick it up, but her mother opened the door, which had a broken lock that could be opened from the outside. They usually knocked to check if someone was inside.
Before she could pick it up, her mother had already entered. She hastily tried to divert attention, complaining: “Mom, how can you just come in like that?”
Seeing her daughter standing there embarrassed, her mother, relieved that she was okay, replied: “I was worried you might have fallen!”
Her sharp-eyed mother noticed something strange on the floor and curiously bent down to pick it up: “What’s this?”
When the two bright red lines appeared on the pregnancy test, Shuangshuang’s mother almost fainted from shock. Fortunately, Chen Shuangshuang caught her just in time.
Her mother, regaining her composure, asked in a trembling voice, “Wh-wh-whose is this?”
Diary entry:
I’ve heard that morning-after pills can be harmful to the body. I’m a considerate man who takes care of others, so I specifically bought her an expensive imported brand of multivitamin tablets to help her recover. I wonder if she took them properly.
— Zhang Dai
TLs note: You have already read 1/3 of this book haha!
